A State of Origin call up for Queensland in 2020 capped off a massive leap for AJ Brimson's NRL career but the Gold Coast fullback is looking to go even further this year.
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Brimson has started the new NRL season strongly, his best showing coming in the Titans' 44-8 thrashing of North Queensland on Sunday.
While his focus remains on getting the Titans back playing finals football, Brimson said the thought of representing the Maroons is never far from his thoughts.
"That's something I want to do and it's one of my goals in 2021," Brimson told AAP.
"(Kalyn) Ponga will be there or thereabouts, (No.1) is probably still his jersey to lose still.
"I'm going to be nipping at his heels and and trying to play in every game.
"If not, hopefully I'll be in the squad... but my main focus is playing good footy at the Titans and building from there."
Brimson replaced the injured Ponga in game one of last year's Origin series, before himself missing the remainder of the series with a foot injury.
In his debut for the Maroons, Brimson was exceptional and bagged a try in a stunning upset win for the heavy underdogs.
While rue changes in the NRL should suit his game, Brimson said they have meant teams are looking to start fast before fatigue kicks in.
"The game is so quick now that when you're in that grind and you break it can be hard to get back into the contest," he said.
"It feels like whoever breaks first, and that was us against the Warriors in round one, will be fighting to get back into the match."
The Titans star has high hopes for a side tipped to make the top eight, but said they have plenty of improvement in them despite their dominant performance against North Queensland.
"I think we're a winning team now, we're winning games and its still not good enough," Brimson said.
"We won convincingly against the Cowboys but, even still, we've got a lot to work on.
"Forty-four points on the weekend is great and that shows our spine and shape is doing something, and that's promising moving forward."
Australian Associated Press
